


Evening of the Sorcerer

by merlinsmushrooms



Category: Sofia the First (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, Roleplay Logs, Tumblr Roleplay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-13
Updated: 2017-08-13
Packaged: 2018-12-14 17:46:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11788233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merlinsmushrooms/pseuds/merlinsmushrooms
Summary: Princess Sofia visits Cedric the evening after he gives up on his tyranny following the events of Day of the Sorcerers.





	Evening of the Sorcerer

**Author's Note:**

> This work is a role-playing archive between so-excited-to-be and merlinsmushrooms from Tumblr.  
> I've marked the jump between posts with * in order to indicate when the writer has changed. Due to the fact this is not a formal fan-fiction, there may be odd errors in structure or grammar.

*The magic show had been everything they’d practiced, but the small audience of the royal family wasn’t the awed crowd Sofia had hoped they would have for their debut.  The shimmer of her apprentice robe seemed a little duller, and in spite of herself Sofia was glad to take off her wizard’s hat when it was done.  It was incredible to think that less than a day earlier she had been full of dreams and expectation about what her first Sorcerer’s Conference would be like, wide eyed and eager to put on a grand show with Mister Cedric.  That seemed a long time ago… they were different people then.  
    
That was before she had known the truth.  
  
All the adventures they’d had, all the journeys they’d been on, all the times he’d helped her when she needed it, or given her gifts and treasures… yes, only a great sorcerer would have done those things, and only a great friend, and yes, they were friends, they would always be.  Sofia knew now more than ever that nothing could change a bond as true as theirs, and yet!    
He had lied to her.    
Things could not stay as they were.  
  
Time after time he had been her ally and been her secret enemy all at once– so much so that it had been no easy decision for him not to use the Medusa’s stone on her the way he had everyone else.  So much so that he had been trying to steal her amulet since the very day she arrived at the palace… Sofia felt a sickening drop in the pit of her stomach as her cheeked flushed with shame and anger.  Then, she began to cry.   Heavy tears rolled down her cheeks as the disappointment and sadness truly settled on her now that the danger of the day had passed.  Sofia had kept a friend, but at the cost of her idealism, for the Mister Cedric she adored was no longer sensational.  
  
Sliding on her slippers and throwing a robe on over her nightgown, Sofia left her rumpled bed, unable to sleep.  The familiar ascent up the cold, stone stairs seemed somehow longer than before, though she’d arrived at this same doorstep to many times.  Surely, he wasn’t still awake, not at this hour, but Sofia couldn’t help but rap her knuckles on the door, the lump in her throat relentlessly refusing to subside until she could tell him how she felt.

“Mister Cedric?” she called, her voice thin and choked.  "I remembered to knock this time.  We– we need to talk, please!"

 

*What a hell this day was.  
Everything that could have been was gone now, and everything that could have been if he had not wandered into the jaws of treason was forsaken because he had tried. Roland had reinstated his position, but at what cost? Regret had washed over him the moment that the realization set in that nobody trusted him anymore. Not like they had reason to prior to this, but showing his face in the halls of the castle now would be more unbearable than ever before. Tomorrow was another day, however, and he’d just have to prepare himself for more consequences— his father was certain to hear of this by morning.   
  
Slumped into the worn armchair he normally perched in for relaxation in his living area, Cedric would take a large swig from the wine glass he had been toying with as his thoughts took over his mind. He had forgotten just how many glasses he had gone through already this evening, but the fact his mind was still on the matter was enough to indicate it wasn’t enough. The thought of coping in the manners he did in his youth when such misery came upon him came as a thought, but he’d dismiss them after debating it. He was too old for such shenanigans, and the alcohol would at least be worn off by the morning.

Wormwood, mostly entirely silent since the incident, refused any sort of conversation. It seemed that he too was angry with him, but for reasons entirely unlike the others. His familiar had tried so hard over the years to ensure that their plans had a chance of succeeding, and when they finally had he flunked it. Hard. Ruined years of yearning and lust just for a child? A child that wasn’t even his own? He could understand the corvid’s frustration and opted to not bother questioning when the bird suddenly made its way upstairs. It was likely he didn’t wish to sleep in the bedroom that evening.

Unbeknownst to the sorcerer, however, the raven had heard a noise from up in the workshop; a rapping upon the door. It was he would answer “What do you want?” from behind the closed door, unable to open it himself for formality.

 

 *When no reply came, Sofia struggled to dry her tears, fresh ones threatening to come running down her lashes… if he truly was able to slumber after such a day, Sofia couldn’t help but think it meant he didn’t care as much as she, but at the same time she would be happy knowing he was resting; the days to come would be hard for them both, and at least he could escape into the realm of dreams while he slept.  With a shaky sigh, she raised her fist to knock one more time, when a voice startled her from inside the workshop.  
  
Cracking open the heavy wooden door, Sofia poked her head inside.  “Wormwood, I need to see Mister Cedric.  It’s really important,” she informed the dubious bird.  Her feelings about him were even more confusing and upsetting than the ones she had towards his master.  Slipping inside the workshop, she closed the door behind her, refusing to look at Wormwood again.  She didn’t need his permission, not after what he’d done.  Sofia hoped they could be friends too, but from the hostile manner in which he had greeted her just now, she suspected it would be a long time in coming before such a thing were possible.  He was angry with her– he still wanted Cedric to be king.  Sofia would never understand, and it hurt to try.  
  
There was a funny smell in the air the further she tiptoed through his belongings and down the stairs to his living quarters.  Like juice, but sharp and sour, and Sofia wondered what kind of potion he could possibly be working on so late, if he was even awake at all.  Turned away from her, she could just see the top of his head above the back of his dilapidated chair, his long, spindly legs sprawled out in disarray.  Sofia was so disappointed that she hardly knew what to say or what to do.  It hurt to see him like this, but she needed to see it, she could hide from it no longer.  After all, isn’t that what had led to the horrific events that had happened earlier?  No one was paying attention.  No one was there to encourage him.  Sofia alone was the only person who had believed in him.  If she gave up… there would be no one else, and that thought was worse than facing him now.  
  
Her fingers clutched around her amulet for courage, she crept to the side of his chair, hovering by his elbow.

“Mister Cedric, I– I can’t sleep.  Can we talk about today?  About… everything?”  Her eyes were dark with concern and confusion, her gaze searching his dismal face.  She had always been so happy to see him, but now a sense of dread filled her whole being.  She hated this, hated that they weren’t the friends they once had been… but she clung to the hope that they were still friends, the greatest either of them knew how to be. 

 

*When did she get here?   
  
Normally he would be startled by the sudden appearance of the princess slinking up behind him, but all of his strength had been sapped from a combination of emotion and his binging. He couldn’t even yelp as he usually would, but instead would rather slowly turn his head to glance at her wistfully; no expression upon a blank and wet face. What was he to say to her? Did she even understand what it was that he was doing?  
  
Breathing heavily, the sorcerer would just nod, unable to speak. His drink would be raised to his lips once more as he quickly finished the last of the wine he had been sipping on prior, struggling to put the emptied glass down on the table beside him with trembling hands.  
  
Crossing one stickly leg over the other, Cedric would fumble into his pockets to search for a wand that he didn’t actually have on him, and after a moment of mute frustration, he would simply cease his fidgeting. Typically, he would summon a chair for the child to sit on - a formal and polite requirement for any guest visiting one’s home - but he wouldn’t be able to summon one. Instead, he would motion his hand to the fireplace, insisting without a word that she perhaps settle herself beside the warmth of the flames.   
  
He was never one to be hospitable, but he would at least need to attempt considering all she had done for him today. Why she had even bothered to visit despite his treachery so soon was beyond him - especially considering the children were told to never intrude upon his private quarters after dark - but here she was, still trying to make some sort of amends most likely that didn’t need to be made. The least she could have done was wait until morning. There was no way Roland would approve of her seeing him in this state, and while normally he’d just request for her to come back once the day began anew, he knew that in his slightly inebriated state it would come out wrong. Most of his words did— and now was not the time to botch any of his statements, lest he lose the only person who truly cared.

 

*Her lips disappearing as she pressed them together in worry and disapproval, Sofia watched his shaky hand set the glass down, breathing a sigh of relief when it didn’t crash to the floor as she had feared.  He looked so tired, so miserable.  The desperation in his eyes that had frightened her before had vanished, but in its place was something worse; a void of emotion so total that Sofia was even more afraid for him than before.  Her friend was so very far away, and she could not reach him.  
  
Where was he, her Cedric the Sensational?  Her master that made her little apprentice’s heart beam with pride?  Hesitating, Sofia silently declined his offer for her to sit by the fire, instead bending over to scoop up the empty wine bottles on the floor.  She remembered picking up his potion beakers her first time in his workshop, that wonderful sunny afternoon that they’d become friends.  The days that had passed had only gotten better, or so the princess had thought.  That time that he had given her his flying machine, and done all those good deeds for the villagers, and repaired her amulet– what had gone wrong?  Where was that man, who was truly great?  
  
Lining up the bottles on the floor along the wall, Sofia returned to her place by his elbow, letting out a small sigh as she realized he wasn’t going to talk about what had happened after all. Though her heart was bursting with questions, he must have thought there was nothing left to say.    
How?    
How could he have done it?    
How could he have doubted their friendship?    
Had he truly been so blind to all the faithful things he had done for her? After so many years of people only noticing his mistakes, it seemed that he too could only notice the things he did wrong.  Sofia shook her head, the reality dawning on her that taking over the kingdom hadn’t just been to prove to everyone else that he was a great man… it had been to prove it to himself too.  
  
“Sofia, when people drink alone, they usually don’t want anyone to join them,” her mother had told her once, when she had offered to sit with a stranger who looked particularly lonely. “They’re trying to escape from everyone, even themselves,” she had said.   At the time Sofia had found that confusing; now she saw it as tragic.  
   
Seating herself in his lap, she hooked her feet over the armrest of the chair, cupping his face in her hands.  His cheeks were as dewy as hers had been, his eyes red rimmed and watery.

“I need your help, Mister Cedric,” she told him, her voice tight and thin as the lump in her throat returned.   “My amulet isn’t working.  When a princess is in trouble, another is supposed to come and help, but my friend is so sad, and I’m the only princess here!”    
Devastated, she threw her arms around his neck, her cheek resting on his chest as a sob escaped her.  Why had everything turned out this way?  Shouldn’t someone have done something?  He saved her life, saved the whole kingdom, and here he was alone, drinking away his sorrow.  It was all too grim for Sofia, and she could stand it no longer.  Her friendship was all she had, but she would give it to him in full, every bit that she could.

 

*She had always been a free spirit who would only take demands as a suggestion. It seemed she wouldn’t listen to him as per usual. He wouldn’t blame her, however, and instead watched with half-lidded eyes as she began to move around his den, setting aside a few of the bottles he had finished earlier in the evening in some sort of attempt to tidy. Even now with him having entirely shattered her reality she was doing things as she always had. Stubborn, but so full of pride. That was his girl.

Reality was a cruel mistress, and it was unfortunate that the princess had to deal with two revelations about his true nature in a single day.  He was a broken man, and broken men did terrible things to both others and themselves. She still somehow retained her innocence despite everything they had been through, and he couldn't’ help but feel guilty that she was attending to his own lack of self-respect. No child had to be put through this. No person should have to deal with his mess.   
  
No matter how hard he tried to form words to express either his sorrow or his gratitude, they would only come out as a broken croak. His throat was latched shut from the tears he had been failing to fight back through the evening, and the moment he heard that wretched noise escaping him he would slink further into his chair, unable to process just how much of a mess he had become. She would do whatever it was she wanted, and he couldn’t request for her to stop no matter how much he yearned for her to just speak her mind as she said she would.  
  
Attempting to regain any shred of composure he might still have within his being, he would shut his eyes and breathe deeply. He had to fight this, at least until she took her leave. He had to be strong for her sake.  
  
No thoughts came to him.  
No positivity.  
No negativity.  
Just the usual silence of his abode rang in his ears; the soft crackling of the fire, the soft moans of the wind outside his window, and the quiet shuffling of feet beside him from his princess.  
  
It was as he tried to bask in his purgatory that he felt a gentle weight on his lap and a hand brush and rest against his cheek. He could barely find the strength to open his eyes and face the princess that had embraced him, nor could he find the strength to respond to her as she spoke. How could he? What was he to say? What was he to do? This child was too pure for him, and yet here she was still trying. What had he done to deserve such an angel watching over him?  
  
As the child collapsed into his chest, instinct mandated that he console her. Wrapping his arms around her, he would hold her close, his nose brushing against soft auburn hair as the tears began to well in his eyes once more. And as she began to sob against him he would lose himself in his sorrows and cry himself— for he was the one who had inflicted so much pain upon her, and yet she was trying to comfort him.

 

*Sofia was so close to him that she could hear his heart beating, and the sound brought her great comfort.  He was alive, and so was she.  They would have tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that!  They had survived the hardest thing a friendship could ever withstand, betrayal, and the bond they shared had won.    
  
Power, glory, control, anger, pride, and pain– none of them had triumphed, though they had put up a mighty fight.  Sofia didn’t want to think about it, but she had been afraid that Mister Cedric really would use the Medusa stone on her.  She had believed and believed in him, but for a moment she had seen him waver, and then, so had she. She closed her eyes, but every time she did, all she could see was him staring back at her, swearing with all his might that conquering Enchancia was all he ever wanted.  
  
No, that wasn’t true!   They both knew that now.  But why had he listened to the voice that had whispered that it was?  Somewhere deep inside him was a lie, a falsehood so poisonous and potent that he had nearly thrown everything away to obtain it.    
  
When his arms wrapped around her, she clutched him back, as though if she were to let go he would vanish.  Her head bobbed up and down on his chest as he finally relinquished sobs of his own, and she shifted, sitting up a bit, so that she could rest her cheek on his shoulder and that he could cry on hers.  
“Mister Cedric, I’m your friend!” she whispered.  "Why didn’t you ever tell me you felt that way?  Why did you keep it a secret from me that you wanted to show everyone you were a great man?  I would have helped you!  But you tried to take my amulet, and you know how important that is to me!  And you used the Medusa stone on my family, our family!   On Baileywick, Mister Cedric!”  
  
Her breath came out in little spurts, warm on his neck, as she clung to him, needing the security his gentle hold provided.  For all her bravery, Sofia was still very much a child, and no one had given her the reassurance that she needed from the terror of the day until now.  

“I forgive you, and I’m not mad at you anymore, but I just wish… you had trusted me as much as I trusted you.  You didn’t think I could help you show everyone what a great man you are.  You didn’t trust Mom or Dad either, not even Amber and James. But you believed Grimtrix.”  Fresh tears fell from her eyes, the drops leaving little dark circles on the collar of his robe.  
  
“That hurts me!  Even now, you’re trying to run away from everyone, including yourself!  But I don’t want you to run anymore!  You have to let other people get close to you!  It’s the only way they’ll ever see how great you are!  Please, please promise me you won’t do this anymore,” she lifted a small hand from his back, gesturing to the empty wine glass.   “Just come find me and tell me you’re sad!”  A glimmer of a rueful smile peeked though as a flicker of a bright spot from the day came to her mind.  
“It’s what friends are for,” she reminded him. 

 

*They had never considered him family. They never would. How could they now? How could they before?  
  
This child was still so innocent. Her thoughts and beliefs were so untainted by the harshness of reality, and even with a taste of just how hopeless the world could be for some people, she stood by his side with her hand in his smiling; urging him to see the good even when good was nothing more than a concept based on opinion. How - after all he had done - could she still see the good in him? How could she be here now lecturing him with such humility and kindness?   
  
He would bury his face into her hair speechless still. She wanted to know when he was sad? How could one constantly bring such misery into the life of somebody with so much potential? How could he drag her down with his own petty feelings? Children were the ones that needed to seek this sort of comfort from their elders— not the other way around. No matter how many times she pleaded with him, it couldn’t change that truth nor his guilt.   
  
As she gestured towards his empty glass, he had to fight the urge to shake his head in disagreeance. There were so few comforts in this world that worked for him and he couldn’t tell her that a few glasses of wine were the least of her concerns. She had more important things to be concerned about with her own life and future than his feeble attempts to dilute the pain. All he could do was stare into her teary eyes with weak apathy. Perhaps over the years, she would come to empathize his methods, but he could only hope that it would be from worldly experience and not from anything that could ever be personal. 

The tiny smile that formed upon her lips pierced his heart, and he would pull her closer. Shaking fingers would pet her back gently in a broken rhythm, his breathing growing deep as he finally forced broken words through ceaseless sobbing.

“I am… so very sorry, my child.”  
  
And for the first time in many long years, he felt a genuinity that he knew had escaped him since he was a boy not much older than she. So many false apologies had been laid out over the course of his life, but none felt so straining to admit as this. And while he knew that she had forgiven him already, how could he forgive himself for this trespass? For such betrayal? For such a heinous and selfish act?   
  
He was a broken man.  
No child should be subject to having to put the pieces back together of such a mess.

 

*It was true, no child should have to be responsible for being an adult’s sole consolation, but there were many things in the world that ought not to be that were.  Cedric should not have had to grow up under the cruel mockery of his peers.  Whatever had lead Grimtrix to wither from the once good man he was into the fiend he had become should not have been.  Sofia should not have had to grow up without a father until recent years, but she had.  
  
Even then, while Roland was Sofia’s Dad, her happy go lucky support and benefactor, he was not a father to her in every sense.  True fathers let children see them at their best, but also at their worst, unable to avoid anything else.  True fathers let learning and teaching be a mutual effort, growing in respect and appreciation of each other.  Most of all, true fathers spent inordinate amounts of time with their children, being present for nearly all mistakes and victories.  Sofia had spent many more hours with Mister Cedric than she ever had with Roland– and while he was always personable and kind to her, he had also let his temper flare many a time and refused to listen to Sofia.  Mister Cedric feigned exasperation and irritation, but Sofia had never known him to be angry with her, and he had always been steadfastly patient in helping her achieve anything she could dream.  
  
While it may not have been ideal for either one of them to see each other in such a state, Sofia was thankful that he hid nothing from her any longer, and that the two of them could unite in a moment of tragedy, instead of being separated by closed doors and stoic feelings.  The relationship the sorcerer had with her completed the princess, giving her the vulnerability and tenderness of a father in addition to the boisterous and sturdy presence Roland provided in her life.  She knew that if the king was ever having difficulties he would distance himself from her, or turn to Amber and James first.  Sofia never held this against him, but she missed being able to bring the kind of restorative and rejuvenating joy a daughter ought to bring her father in times of sorrow and defeat.  
  
Although he loathed himself for it, Sofia was thankful that Cedric would cradle her close to him when he could have shoved her away.  The nearness and the honesty of it healed something inside the child, a little girl loved by all except the man who walked out of her life before she’d even known him.  The feeling of his cheek nestled in her hair was one of the most foreign experiences she’d had, yet it felt instantly right– just by being herself, she made him feel better, which was the feeling all children needed to know they provided for their parents, yet Sofia had never gotten to share with her father.  
  
Sofia was quiet for a time, small arms tucked around him, until finally she relented, letting out a sigh of contentment.  
“Okay, Mister Cedric.  So long as we can still sit together, you can drink a few glasses, just not too many.”  She closed her eyes, her little smile still hovering on her lips.  

“You feel like home.”     
If only everyone could see the man that she saw!    
They’d all know that he truly was great. 


End file.
